Girl Scout Cookies

I know that I've been very quiet lately. Part of is that I've been so busy. Ironically, nothing terribly interesting has happened.

I got an iPhone. I like it. I understand the love affair with them now.

Five of my chickens are on egg strike now. Only the silver laced wyandotte and one of the easter eggers have laid anything since New Year's. I'm wondering if it's the cold? (of course, within an hour of posting this, the easter egger who lays the beautiful seafoam green egg produced an egg, so I guess only FOUR of my chickens are on strike now)

I've been trying to get immunotherapy for allergies for both K and M. I'm hoping that by doing two shots per kid, twice a week, they can not have severe reactions to animals, grass, trees and weeds. Finding time to make the drive (20 min each way), and waiting for 30 minutes at the clinic after the shots has been difficult. If we can do the two shots a week for another few weeks though, they will have progressed to the point where it will only be once every THREE weeks, which sounds much more manageable.

K & M are playing Jr. Jazz basketball. That's taken up a lot of time in our evenings. It's been interesting and fun to watch them improve.

I've had two sales fail for real estate through no fault of mine or my clients. Both were short sales, which are notoriously tricky and difficult to close. We actually closed our end of one transaction, but the seller didn't follow instructions, and the house ended up going into foreclosure. I had a listing expire, which was really sad for me. I really wanted that house to sell, mostly because the seller NEEDED it to happen. The market is tough, and the house was a "project" though.

I volunteered to help with the spectrum testing last weekend. I'm volunteering as a judge for the science fair tomorrow.

I'm still working out 4-5 days a week. Still chubby, but I'm fairly fit. I can actually run 3 miles without stopping, which is HUGE for me.

I started a Daisy Girl Scout Troop for S. It's been a smashing success- we have 31 girls in our troop, though only about 25 or so come regularly.

Speaking of girl scouts, it's girl scout cookie time! I have to turn in my orders by January 31st, so if you want to order, let me know. We've been doing a bit of door to door sales, which I really hate. However, I really want both of them to be able to go to the cookie party this year. To be invited, they have to sell 250 boxes of cookies EACH. We are at just over 300 total now, so we still have to sell a couple hundred before they can go to that special event.

Moro Oranges

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am a sucker for anything unusually colored, or anything that changes color or glows in the dark.

My latest food item that I am in love with is Moro Oranges, also known as "Blood Oranges".

They taste more or less the same as a regular orange, but perhaps a touch juicier. I think they are such a beautiful color though.

Eye Color Family Tree, the sequel

After seeing my little family's eye color chart, I decided I just had to do the same thing with my parents and sisters. I thought it would actually be even more interesting since there's more variation in color.

Eye Color Family Tree

I thought it would be fun to show our immediate family's eye color. I'm not thrilled with the quality of these pictures though. Z's eyes have some gold flecks that don't really come through. I may end up replacing individual photos as they improve.

But, for a fun afternoon project, I'm pleased.

I think I'm going to try and do this with my parents and sisters. There's some amazing variety in that group for sure!

Why Z got a new bed

Last night, as Z was getting ready for bed, he was discussing his racecar bed with his daddy.

"Daddy, I didn't always have a race car bed, right?"

"No, mommy and I bought this big boy bed for you."

"Right, we got a new bed because my old bed looked like a cage, and you didn't want me to sleep in a cage."


Yes, son, a crib does resemble a cage, doesn't it?

Homemade Marshmallows

Several of my friends have made homemade marshmallows this Christmas season. I decided to give it whirl. I decided to use Alton Brown's recipe.

Alton Brown's Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
  
• 1 cup ice cold water, divided
• 12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Nonstick spray

Directions

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.

In a small saucepan, combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.

For regular marshmallows:

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.

When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

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Smoothing the marshmallows into the pan was surprisingly difficult because I'd prepped the pan so well. It wouldn't stick at all. I finally had to sprinkle some of the cornstarch/sugar mixture on top and pat into place.

Here's S & Z, ready and anxious to help me cut them out.

Cutting them into snowflakes turned out to be a major pain, so after doing the plate full, I decided to use a greased pizza cutter and cut the rest into squares.

The kids all agree that these taste MUCH better than storebought marshmallows and have a better texture.

Orange Tree

My uncle and grandmother found an amazing deal on potted orange trees, so they bought a couple, and gave me one.

Imagine my excitement a month later, when it started blooming! It smelled heavenly and looked gorgeous.

A couple weeks later, I looked at the faded blooms, and could see tiny little oranges forming. I was now practically incoherent with joy.

Then, a few days ago, my little kids decided to play with the tree. 3/4 of the leaves are gone, and all of my bitty oranges have been plucked off as well. While I didn't cry, I was pretty disappointed.